LYCOPENE AND THE ROLE IN METABOLIC PREVENTION

The origin of the tomato plant seems to be South America, in particular Chile and Ecuador, where it grows as a wild plant due to the tropical climate and is able to bear fruit throughout the year, while in European regions, if cultivated in 'open, has a seasonal cycle limited to the summer period. From here, it later spread to Central America and it was the Spaniards who made it known in Europe in the 16th century. Only at the end of the 18th century, the cultivation of tomatoes for food purposes experienced a strong boost in Europe, mainly in France and Southern Italy. Starting from the 19th century, the tomato was finally included in European gastronomic treaties, favoring a conspicuous diffusion both on the tables of the richest and those of the less well-off. Today tomatoes are a staple of our diet a series of researches have identified the effects that the consumption of this particular food, in its many variations, has on our health. If previously the effects that tomatoes have on the improvement of blood lipids were recognized, now researchers have identified a direct correlation between the risk of cardiovascular mortality and the consumption of the fruit, for the presence of Lycopene, a carotenoid antioxidant. It is lycopene, in particular, that produces the greatest benefits for our body. It is a powerful antioxidant that determines, among other things, the particular red color of the tomato. Through research on the effects of a diet rich in tomatoes on the body, the experts found a progressive decrease in the concentration of cholesterol accompanied by a decrease in cardiovascular risk

Vitamin d in the prevention, development and therapy of oncological diseases

Vitamin D, traditionally known as a fat-soluble essential vitamin, is a precursor of a powerful steroid hormone that regulates a broad spectrum of physiological processes. In addition to its fundamental role in bone metabolism, epidemiological, preclinical and cellular researches in recent decades have revealed that vitamin D can play a considerable role in the prevention of some pathologies, including extra-skeletal ones, such as neoplasms. Vitamin D, as a prohormone, undergoes first hepatic and subsequently renal metabolism to produce a biologically active metabolite, calcitriol or 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D or (1,25 (OH)2D), which binds the vitamin D receptor by regulating the expression of several genes involved in bone metabolism and other biological functions. Furthermore, recent studies have revealed that vitamin D can be also metabolized and activated through a non-canonical metabolic pathway catalyzed by CYP11A1, the gene encoding the cholesterol side chain cleavage enzyme or P450scc. The metabolites of vitamin D deriving from the CYP11A1 enzyme have shown antiproliferative and anti-inflammatory activities and are able to promote the differentiation process on neoplastic cells in comparable way or better than calcitriol, thus contributing to its tumor preventive effect. Clinical data have demonstrated that vitamin D has anticancer activity against prostate, colon, and breast cancers. Several molecular mechanisms of vitamin D involved in tumor etiopathogenesis have been proposed that have not yet been fully clarified. Vitamin D may play a key role in preventing the early stage of the neoplastic process by exerting anti-inflammatory, antioxidant defenses and inducing enzymes responsible for repairing DNA damage and could also be involved in mechanisms of inhibition of cell proliferation, induction of cell differentiation, and cell death. In addition, some studies indicate various mechanisms through which vitamin D can quantitatively and qualitatively influence the intestinal microbiota, strongly linked to chronic inflammatory bowel diseases and the development of colon cancer. However, the metabolism and functions of vitamin D are dysregulated in some neoplasms which therefore develop resistance to the antiproliferative effect of vitamin D, and this promotes tumor development and progression. In this review, studies regarding vitamin D in relation to its activity in cancer have been summarized, as long as the metabolic pathways described for vitamin D

Low‐carbon transition risks for finance

The transition to a low‐carbon economy will entail a large‐scale structural change. Some industries will have to expand their relative economic weight, while other industries, especially those directly linked to fossil fuel production and consumption, will have to decline. Such a systemic shift may have major repercussions on the stability of financial systems, via abrupt asset revaluations, defaults on debt, and the creation of bubbles in rising industries. Studies on previous industrial transitions have shed light on the financial transition risks originating from rapidly rising “sunrise” industries. In contrast, a similar conceptual understanding of risks from declining “sunset” industries is currently lacking. We substantiate this claim with a critical review of the conceptual and historical literature, which also shows that most literature either examines structural change in the real economy, or risks to financial stability, but rarely both together. We contribute to filling this research gap by developing a consistent theoretical framework of the drivers, transmission channels, and impacts of the phase‐out of carbon‐intensive industries on the financial system and on the feedback from the financial system into the rest of the economy. We also review the state of play of policy aiming to protect the financial system from transition risks and spell out research implications